The Reconciling of Two Different Adventurers
by ThatGirlintheBowTie
Summary: When Bubblegum sends Finn & Jake to find the components for one of her latest experiments, they come back relatively empty-handed. P.B. Soon discovers that the ingredients she needs can only be found in a dangerous frontier: The Nightosphere. Bubblegum grudgingly realizes that she will need to enlist the help of an expert.. One of the few that know the Nightosphere. {Bubbline}
1. Chapter 1: Behind Schedule

_Summary:_

_When Bubblegum sends Finn & Jake to find the components for one of her latest experiments, they come back relatively empty-handed. P.B. Soon discovers that the ingredients she needs can only be found in a dangerous frontier: The Nightosphere._

_Bubblegum grudgingly realizes that she will need to enlist the help of an expert.. One of the few that know the Nightosphere. A shadow that has seen things that will make her go "Like what?"_

_**Disclaimer:**_

_Everyone has to add these, right? I do not own Adventure Time or any characters of the show. I own nearly none of the subject material of this fic, in fact. All credit goes to the proper creators, including Penn W._

_Thanks for reading, this is my first fanfiction, etc. etc._

_If you like, favourite or review. If you don't, feel free to use that little review box to insult me however you like. However, I would prefer constructive criticism. Make use of all that disgust and anger, right?_

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Peppermint Butler, a short, striped Candy-man, padded silently down one of the many corridors of the candy kingdom, dimly lit by the rising sun. He was heading to Princess Bubblegum's corridors dutifully, as early as always. He held a covered silver tray on one hand above his head with an air of ease. He did this every morning, after all. What kind of butler would he be if he could not serve his princess in such a small way?

"_It is a butler's duty to wake his princess with an appropriate breakfast for the occasio_n." Peppermint Butler would recite the many codes and duties of a butler in the solitude of his own head. It kept him calm and distracted himself from his more… Inappropriate thoughts that often sprouted like twisted, black weeds when his mind was not busy.

The Candy Kingdom was actually quite a strange place to be... Even though Peppermint Butler did belong there, when he pondered upon it, he realized how unfamiliar it must be to those of other lands... After all, every surface was made of candy. Most of the walls were a light yellow, a pastel-toned depiction of bright spring sunshine. The torches lighting the castle distorted the colour of the walls by giving them an orange hue. In reality, the floors were even stranger than the walls. They were composed of Pastel purple bricks of varying shades. It seemed that the colours of the bricks only varied enough to notice a spot that was slightly darker every few meters.

Peppermint Butler cleared his throat as his tiny fist raised to knock on Princess Bubblegum's door lightly. "Princess Bubblegum?" He added to identify himself in his high voice. He couldn't be rude to his Princess, after all. She had been left in his care by her parents and Peppermint Butler took his job very seriously, as he had with all of the past princesses he had been assigned to serve. He had practically been passed down the Bubblegum line, from mother to daughter.

After a moment of waiting, Peppermint Butler opened the door quietly. Princess Bubblegum's room was dark, the pink curtains over the transparent balcony door shutting out the early-dawn light. However, Peppermint Butler could still barely perceive the scattered hearts on the Princess's pink walls. He could also see the hulking shapes of the furniture that towered over his vertically-challenged frame. A simple desk in one corner of the spacious pink room held to the left of that was another table with test tubes and various chemistry equipment…

Peppermint Butler's eyes narrowed as he found that Princess Bubblegum's bed was empty, the floral bedspread lying flat for once. Scanning the room, he quickly found her asleep on the simple desk in the corner, snoring quietly. The desk held the Princess's computer that was vital to her research and contained the digital copies of all of her findings and usually a neat stack of notes. The striped man set the tray of breakfast on a pink nightstand next to the Princess's bed before moving over to open the curtains. The light illuminated the desk, and Peppermint Butler was shocked to find that Princess Bubblegum's workspace was a mess. There were messy piles of papers stacked hazardously both on and around the desk. The small trash bin next to her desk was overflowing with crumpled papers. Peppermint Butler found random papers with math equations and frantic notes that had obviously been flung away from the princess in frustration and discuss.

Peppermint Butler continued to look around, at a loss for words. "Wh-What?.. Why?" Both Peppermint and the Princess held an utter disdain for disorganization, so he could only question the sudden clutter. He made his way over to the Princess, tapping her leg. The Princess looked disheveled, to say the least. Her normally glossy and neat pink hair was messy and frazzled, lacking its common luster. It looked almost as if she had tugged on it many times in frustration. The giant glasses that Bubblegum wore when she worked were still on, having slid down her nose while she was asleep. Her usual pajamas, pink silk pants and the usual black shirt, were crooked and wrinkled. It looked as if she had been pacing, grumbling, and scribbling furious all night. "It was most likely just one of her more difficult experiments frustrating her…" Peppermint Butler figured with a sympathetic frown.

The butler began to tug on the Princess's shirt lightly. "Excuse me, Princess.. Princess!" He said. "Please do wake-up now. We do have a tight schedule to follow today." The pink-haired princess began to stir begrudgingly, grumbling quiet complaints. She sat up in her chair, rubbing her eyes with a yawn childishly.

"Peppermint?" She questioned sleepily. "Is it already time to wake up?"

Peppermint chuckled, figuring that she was joking. "Six-forty-five in the morning, Silly Princess. The same time I always wake you up." His smile drooped. "Well, Six-Forty-Nine in the morning... I appear to be running behind schedule." He sighed dejectedly, frowning now.

A look of distress crossed Princess Bubblegum's face as she began to look around her bedroom. "Oh, Glob..." She murmured, her eyes wide and forehead wrinkled. "I have to get back to work." The pink-haired Princess exclaimed, quickly turning back to her work. She pushed her glasses back up with her index finger and began to boot up her computer, a whirring noise from the machine filling the room. Her foot tapped impatiently on the floor, her right leg bouncing up and down furiously.

"I'm sorry, Princess, but I cannot allow that." Peppermint Butler said after a moment's thought. "You are tired, and you'll work much better after... A nap." He said in a firm tone as he mentally cleared Princess Bubblegum's schedule. He could take care of that while she rested... After all, what kind of Butler would put his Princess's health at risk like that?

"B-But…" The Princess protested, but the loyal butler shushed her.

"No, no, Princess. You rest, I'll take care of your royal duties for today." He said, and led the Princess gently by the hand to her plush bed. He could see her resolve weakening, her tired eyes drooping as she laid down. He covered the already slumbering princess with her pink comforter, blocking the sun out with the quiet swish of drapes closing. Peppermint Butler closed the door behind him and his shoes clicked as he strolled down the corridor away from the room, headed to take care of some paperwork. He would allow the Princess to slumber as long as she needed. He was her butler, after all.

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_Consider this more of an.. Introduction._

_Or maybe just a chapter working out the kinks. I really am pretty rusty. I haven't written anything in forever, and I feel like my writing has taken a turn for the worse. I'm struggling for descriptive words and elements of actual storytelling. xP_

_So, uh, Here's to hoping my shit straightens itself out._

_I actually have a basic outline, so I will be uploading the first couple of chapters fairly quickly._

_Thanks for reading again, and if you thought it was shitty, just hit the review button and tell me just how I failed this time._


	2. Chapter 2: A Princess' Composure

_**Thanks to all of you who read the first chapter and a special thanks to my one reviewer, Roses and Poison Ivy. Also, thank you to all of you who favourited and followed. {That means you guys, ea99, electorlizard, and livingstonnoah.}**_

**Disclaimer:** _I guess I always have to put this disclaimer in.. I don't own any of these characters, nor Adventure Time. They all belong to Pendleton Ward, I believe. So, all credit goes to the creators of Adventure Time._

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Bubblegum awoke to deafening silence. For once, both her room and kingdom were silent. _"How odd.."_ She thought, her eyes closing to cherish the moment. Suddenly, with a small gasp, she realized that Peppermint Butler had allowed her to sleep in. Her brow furrowed as panic set in. The princess felt her heart begin to race, sitting straight up in her bed and nearly throwing her covers off of her body.

Bubblegum froze before forcing herself to take a deep breath. _"A Princess must always keep her composure."_ She thought to herself fiercely, attempting to calm her racing pulse. Another deep breath, and Bubblegum closed her eyes for just a moment. Opening them again, Bubblegum carefully folded the floral bedspread off of herself. She slipped out of her bed daintily, her small feet hitting the chilly tiles noiselessly.

The Princess inhaled deeply one last time before she turned around and fixing the rumpled blankets. She absolutely could not stand messiness. There was never an excuse for disorganization. She believed that everything had its place and order must be maintained. This made her reaction to the sight of her messy desk understandable. Her eyes widened at the sight of papers strewn everywhere. Despite the sudden feeling of unease at the sight of the messiness, the Princess merely pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh and strode over to her workspace to clean up the mess. She huffed slightly in annoyance as her pink hair fell around her face, working like a curtain. The Fuchsia-haired princess deliberately moved her hair out of her face before standing to wrestle her soft locks into a messy bun.

After her research was organized into neat piles on her white desk, Bubblegum fell into her desk sigh with a groan of exasperation. No matter how hard she worked to keep up the composure required of royalty, the Princess could still feel the heavy ball of stress sitting in her chest like a painful parasite. A feminine hand moved up to rub the muscles of her neck. They were unbelievably tense.. She glanced at her computer, the screen having flickered to light when her elbow bumped the mouse. The diagram of the composition of the unknown material she was studying fervently was still displayed on the screen…

Bubblegum rubbed her face with her hands before standing up and getting dressed. She threw on her usual pink dress in a hurry, not even pausing to take her hair down… She completely ignored the mirror with braided gold wires trimming the edges, placing her crown on her head as she walked across her room towards the exit. The Princess opened her door quietly, peeking her head out to find the pastel corridor empty, much to her relief. Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, Bubblegum stepped into the hallways and closed the door behind her as sneakily as possible. She did not want Peppermint Butler or anybody else to see her. She had to be able to get _there_ without being seen.

The Princess crept down the corridor as quickly as possible without being too noisy. She bit her lip as she continued to glance around the hallway to make sure she was alone. Meeting an intersection, Bubblegum peeked around the corner before turning left. She scurried down the shrinking corridor. It became dimmer the farther she went, and soon, the Princess had to squint to make out what was ahead. The torches were placed further apart now, and there were no windows to allow any natural light in. She ran a hand through her hair as she checked to see if she was alone one last time. Bonnibel turned to the wall, running her hand across the dusty stones. Leaning forward, the Princess whispered "Ttubllaw" and stepped back. A face appeared out of the stone, having very round cheeks and square eyebrows that looked much like bricks. His eyes were Large, and almost seemed to glow in the dim light of the hallway.

"Oh, Princess, it's nice to see you again! Why have you been coming here so of-" He practically shouted in his rough, slightly annoying voice.

Bubblegum slapped her hand over the Wall's mouth, wincing but still effectively silencing him. "Shh! It's just some royal business." She hissed with narrowed eyes before pinching his cheek. Stonesy squealed happily behind her hand and Bubblegum frowned slightly. She shushed him once more, and the wall looked dejected. "Okay, Okay." He lowered his voice. "You got me. Have a nice day, Princess." He whispered before the wall seemed to fold out until there was an opening big enough for her to step through easily.

"Thank you, Stonesy." Bubblegum said quietly in a more serious tone. She stepped inside, and the wall closed again, leaving her in a bright room, also lit by torches. She blinked rapidly as her eyes attempted to adjust to the light. The room was spacious and both the walls and floors were a stark white, a shock to the senses after spending more than five minutes in the colorful and vibrant Candy Kingdom. Bubblegum shivered and crossed her arms at the chilly atmosphere. The room was cold and colorless like one of the eerie Pre-Mushroom War hospitals that Bubblegum had read about.

However, this place was no longer one for the living room. On the wall to her left, there were six silver pegs holding sterile white lab coats and light pink medical masks. Bubblegum quickly shrugged a lab coat over her shoulders, but fumbled with the medical mask. Her hands had started shaking without her realizing. With trembling fingers, she covered her mouth, the elastic band snapping in place. Princess Bubblegum turned to the two rows of metal examining tables taking up most of the space in the room. On the side was a desk covered with beakers vials, and colourful liquids. Only one of the tables in the room were occupied... In the far right corner, a white sheet draped over the table, the edges almost touching the floor. Bubblegum stared at the table for a moment before making her way towards it slowly. She continued to shiver, more from trepidation than from room temperature now.

It felt like Bubblegum's legs were made of lead, weighing her down. It seemed like ages before she crossed the room, her feet pattering softly. A trembling hands clutched the sheet, but her arm didn't want to move. The Princess swallowed audibly before she ripped the sheet off, figuring she would have to do it like a Band-Aid. Her eyes widened. Lying on the table underneath her was a body. The body of one of the citizens of the Candy Kingdom…

The Ice-Cream Man's body was emaciated, his skin pulled taut around his facial features. There had been spots of colour on him at first, but now they were dark purple instead of a rashy red. His lips were blue and his skin definitely cold. He had only been here since yesterday morning, but the corpse seemed to be becoming more horrifying by the moment. His eyes were still open wide, his expression one of shock. His mouth was frozen in a dying scream, blood stains trickling around his mouth...

The Princess covered him back up and turned away, unable to stare any longer. She carefully picked a cluster of multi-coloured vials and a stack of paper, test results. She removed her lab coat, placing it carefully on the silver peg it came from, but kept her mask on. Bubblegum left the room as she ripped off the mask and stowed it away in her pocket, the passageway closing behind her and leaving the dead Candy-man in the darkness once again.

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_Thanks for reading again._

_Remember, you should review... It's the polite thing to do._

_Oh, and I apologize if my description of Stonesy's voice was incorrect. I could not find a video of that scene of "What Have You Done?" for the life of me. :c_


	3. The Peppermint-Striped Candlestick Phone

_**Wow, over two-hundred views. Thank you so much, guys, for reading. A special thanks extended to the readers who favourited and followed my story.**_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of these characters, setting, or anything about Adventure Time. All credit goes to its rightful owners.._

_But, really, do you think Pendleton Ward has a FanFiction account to write about his own show?.._

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Princess Bubblegum gripped a red-and-white striped candlestick telephone in her trembling hands, her normally pink knuckles white. Princess Bubblegum forced herself to breathe deeply and steady her voice before she attempted to dial the numbers once again. She sighed in relief as the telephone began to ring in her ear shrilly. Bonnibel had been attempting to dial Finn's number for the past eleven minutes... Her limbs had been trembling so badly that it had proven near impossible to complete the task correctly.

After a slight clicking noise, Finn's energetic and cheerful voice burst forth loudly. "Hello, Princess!" The Princess winced slightly, maneuvering the earpiece far enough from her ear to prevent hearing loss. She cleared her throat politely before she forced herself to speak calmly.

"Yes, Finn. I require your help today with a minor experiment." Bubblegum said in her mundane voice reserved for royals. It was formal and stiff, her tone too neutral to be misinterpreted. There was no hint of warmth or familiarity, just a hidden commanding tone. It wasn't that Bonnibel was unfamiliar with Finn and Jake. Bubblegum had known Finn and Jake for many years, but she was fighting the tremor in her voice.

"Umm, Princess..." Finn paused and Bubblegum could hear him hiss something at Jake. "I told you that I can't let you experiment on Jake and I anymore..." The blonde muttered awkwardly.

Bubblegum forced a reassuring laugh, but grimaced slightly. "Oh, no, Finn. Don't worry! That is hardly my intention. I simply wanted you to pick up some supplies for this experiment... A routine experiment!" She added nervously.

"Oh, that sounds radical then, Peebles!" Finn said, his voice reflecting the relief that was most likely painted across his boyish features. The princess could hear Jake shouting out something about 'Adventure!' in his gruff voice near the phone, obviously already anxious to start looking.

"Yes, 'Radical', Indeed. I need you to come to the castle as soon as possible and I'll provide details when you get there. Thank you, boys!" Bonnibel did not give Finn a chance to reply, hanging up quickly. She slammed the striped earpiece back down on its hook with a heavy sigh, collapsing into the chair next to her balcony door. The pink-haired princess draped her arm across her eyes, feeling as if the stacks of papers around her were mocking her…

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_**Yes, this is quite the short chapter. Don't worry, I'll be updating again quite soon.. Maybe in a couple of hours..**_

_**Which will be tomorrow! So, I'll update Tomorrow..**_

_**I'm Lame.**_

_**Again, thank you for reading. Please review and tell me how badly this sucks. Give me suggestions.. I'm up for anything.**_

_**~Insult Me~**_


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